Walking 2010

For a couple of years I kept a log of all my walks, mainly to see how much walking I was doing. But I soon got behind with the log, and now I've given up and only occasionally list them in a private diary. But it might be interesting to keep these logs as a little bit of history.

Date

Description

From

To

Distance

Comments

07.03.2010

Tiendewegroute

Gouda Goverwelle

Gouda Goverwelle

16km

Classic, gloriously muddy polder walk in the Groene Hart. Not exactly cut off from civilisation, as most of the walk is pretty close to the Gouda-Utrecht railway line, but some fine views, and not much asphalt apart from the last section.

21.03.2010

ns Utrechtse Heuvelrug

Driebergen-Zeist

Maarn

14km

An old favourite, by now.

27.03.2010

ns Landgoed Groeneveld (reversed)

Hilversum Noord

Baarn

15km

I did this “the official way” last year — it’s much better this way round, with the park of Groeneveld castle at the end.

10.04.2010

ns Veluwezoom (extended and reversed)

Rheden

Dieren

17km

This is one I’ve done many times — reversing the walk is a good idea because the train service is best from Dieren (and it’s a very popular ns walk); I also add in an extra bit to take me from Rheden to near the start of the Velp leg, rather than the official route to Rheden, which makes the walk rather short.

11.04.2010

-

Delft

Ypenburg

10km

There are endless variants of this walk though the local woods. I generally take the bus to Delft and walk back to avoid having to walk the dull bit between home and the woods twice.

This section of the Groene Hartpad really has a bit too much asphalt for my taste, but the views across the polders are great. The little walled town of Montfoort and the grounds of Huis te Linschoten are highlights en route. On a lovely, clear spring day, you can’t complain!

Could hardly be more of a contrast to yesterday, a very attractive loop through a bit of the Veluwe I hadn’t visited before. Quiet forest, open, empty heaths, barely a scrap of asphalt or a whiff of a car until you get to Hoenderloo: even on the finest Sunday so far this year there was hardly anyone in the woods, except near to car parks and at Hoog Buurlo farm itself, a crossroads of various popular cycle routes. I was slightly prejudiced against the bus stop to bus stop concept when I missed the train/bus connection in Putten and had to hang around there for an hour in the morning, but for the rest it worked well.

25.04.2010

ns De Horsten

Voorschoten

Den Haag

20km

Always pleasant on a nice day, and not too busy if you start reasonably early in the day.

05.05.2010

Visserspad

Katwijk

Den Haag (Clingendael)

21km

The first time I’ve done the walk this way round — as a bonus I chanced on the Liberation Day parade in Katwijk (which I should have known about, really). My guidebook is very out of date, but the waymarking on this section of the Visserspad has recently been renewed, so this was also the first time I was able to follow the correct route all the way, avoiding a couple of tedious stretches along the cycle route through the dunes.

12–21.05.2010

Holiday (Norfolk)

Did most of the coast path from Hunstnton to Overstrand, plus a few bits and pieces.

23.05.2010

Utrechtpad

Leersum

Veenendaal West

21km

One of the nicest bits of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, and a gloriously hot and sunny Whitsunday.

04.06.2010

Visserspad

Den Haag (Clingendael)

Katwijk

19km

The Liberation Day walk in the opposite direction, on a free Friday afternoon. The slightly shorter distance is because the buses in Katwijk weren’t running all the way to the sea-front last time.

05.06.2010

ns Holterberg

Nijverdal West

Holten

14km

More glorious weather. The Sallandse Heuvelrug is a bit out of the way for people from the Randstad, so you actually get a bit of peace and quiet, even in a summer Saturday. Nijverdal West is a new station put in for passengers arriving from Zwolle during the period when the line is cut at Nijverdal for building work: for walkers it is much more convenient than the “real” Nijverdal station.

13.06.2010

ns

Delft

Zoetermeer

13km

A dullish Sunday and a late start, so I just did my nearest ns walk. The woods it leads through a fairly new, but they look a little better eaach year, especially in the Delftse Hout area.

An entertaining little round through the very attractive Kaapse Bossen and the estate of Huis te Maarn. The designer of the walk clearly had fun picking out all the most obscure footpaths: with a gps it’s trivial to follow, of course, but without you would really have to follow the route description very carefully.

06.09.2010

ns Warnsborn (rev.)

Wolfheze

Arnhem

19km

This is another of the real highlights in the book of ns walks. None of the open heathland you get on the other side of the Veluwe, but little winding valleys with mill-streams. Well worth taking a Monday off for if the sun’s shining, but don’t do it on the first Saturday in September when thousands of walkers converge on Oosterbeek for the Airborne commemoration.

Pleasant circular walk in the Brabant countryside south of Eindhoven, out through woods and back over the Strabrechtse Heide. Very similar to the ns Geldrop-Heeze walk, really. On a Sunday afternoon the heath gets fairly busy, so there might have been a case for doing this one in reverse.

17.10.2010

nsKennemerduin (extended)

Santpoort Noord

Haarlem

20km

Nice to do this one on a fine autumn day, even if you end up in the Sunday afternoon crowds.

13.11.2010

ns De Horsten

Voorschoten

Den Haag

20km

Rather a dull autumn Saturday, and an inauspicious start (the bike path along the railway in Voorschoten is being dug up for a pipeline or something). But the rain held off, and in the end it was rather a pleasant day.

20.11.2010

Visserspad

Den Haag (Clingendael)

Katwijk

19km

Third time this year, but why not, on a lovely winter day? Some minor detours required in the dunes where paths were flooded from last week’s rain, but nothing too serious.